Hermetic Herbalism: The Art of Extracting Spagyric Essences

By Jean Mavéric

A never-before-translated occult classic that brings the science of herbal medicine back to its Hermetic roots

• Includes a large collection of recipes for spagyric medicines and quintessences, with detailed step-by-step instructions, adapted from celebrated spagyrists such as Paracelsus, Pseudo-Lull, Philipp Ulstad, and Nicaise Le Fèvre

• Provides botanical and medicinal classifications of over 600 plant species along with their astral natures, elemental qualities, and planetary and zodiacal signatures

• Explores advanced methods and techniques and shares the author’s secret formula for a universal circulatum

First published in French in 1911, this practical guide to the art of spagyrics begins by outlining the ancient yet often forgotten Hermetic foundations of herbalism. Author Jean Mavéric provides botanical and medicinal classifications of over 600 plant species along with an in-depth study of their astral natures, elemental qualities, and planetary and zodiacal signatures as well as practical advice on the appropriate times to harvest plants and administer herbal remedies and quintessences.

Reviewing the general principles and procedures of premodern chemistry, Mavéric then explores the secret doctrines and operations of the spagyric art. He offers a large collection of recipes for spagyric herbal preparations adapted from celebrated spagyrists such as Paracelsus, Pseudo-Lull, Philipp Ulstad, Jan Baptist van Helmont, Oswald Croll, and Nicaise Le Fèvre, providing detailed step-by-step instructions for a veritable pharmacopeia of spagyric extracts, tinctures, elixirs, liquors, oils, unguents, salts, aquae vitae, and quintessences. Mavéric also shares his intricate theory of astral medicine and advocates a seasonal “Hermetic diet” designed to keep the humors of the body in equilibrium and prevent the onset of illness. In the final section of the book, Mavéric focuses on the more advanced methods and techniques of Paracelsus, Helmont, and George Starkey, unraveling the mysteries of manufacturing alkalis, alkahests, and menstrua and divulging his own secret formula for a universal circulatum.

Available now for the first time in English, this occult classic unveils the art of extracting spagyric essences to a modern audience while also bringing the science of herbal medicine back to its Hermetic roots.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Inner Traditions
• Release date: May 5, 2020
• ISBN: 9781620559864

Jean Mavéric

Little is known about the life of the writer behind the pseudonym Jean Mavéric except that he was a prominent figure in occult and alchemical circles in Paris in the early twentieth century. He was affiliated with Papus’s École hermétique, where he taught courses in Hermetic philosophy and astrology, and was also an active member of the Société alchimique de France, a group of practicing occultists devoted to the study and revival of alchemy. Jean Mavéric also wrote under the pseudonyms “Jean Bélus” and “Jean Petit,” the latter of which appears to corroborate occult bibliographer Albert Louis Caillet’s assertion that “Jean Mavéric” was the nom de plume of Maurice Petitjean.

Book preview

For

F.-C. Barlet,

whose knowledge is equaled only by his modesty,

and

my friend Dr. J.-P. Vergnes,

whose noble mission became the realization of this Work.

— J.M.

Contents

Cover Image

Title Page

Dedication

Abbreviations and Symbols, Tables, and Figures

Translator’s Foreword

Author’s Preface

Introduction

Part One. Universal Generation, Plants, Hermetic Medicine, and Astral Influences

Chapter 1. Synthesis of the Origins of Creation

The Formation of the Four Elements

Universal Generation

The Origin of the Three Constituent Principles

The Distinctive Natures of the Constituent Principles

The World Spirit

The Process of Universal Generation According to the Numerical Laws of the Kabbalah

The Anatomical Constitution of the Universal Elements

Ettmüller’s Classification of Plants

Ettmüller’s Classification of Flowers

Ettmüller’s Classification of Seeds

Le Fèvre’s Classification of Seeds

Le Fèvre’s Classification of Plants

Chapter 2. Medicinal Classifications of Simples

First Division in Seven Classes

Second Division in Seven Classes

Third Division in Seven Classes

Chapter 3. Boerhaave’s Classifications of Medicinal Plants

Acidic, Sour, and Astringent Plants

Non-Acidic and Neutral Plants

Alkaline Plants

Refreshing Plants

Soothing and Emollient Plants

Mucilaginous and Demulcent Plants

Oily, Sweet, and Bitter Plants

Aromatic and Cordial Plants

Irritant and Aromatic Plants Whose Flowers and Leaves Are Filled with Stimulant and Active Principles

Aromatic Plants Whose Roots Contain Stimulant and Active Principles

Aromatic or Stimulant Plants Whose Virtue Resides Chiefly in the Seed

Plants Whose Virtue Resides Chiefly in the Bark

Aromatic and Irritant Plant Saps

Sudorific Plants Whose Virtue Resides in the Roots

Diuretic and Detersive Plants

Refreshing and Febrifugal Plants

Hepatic Plants for Jaundice

Plants for Intestinal Inflammation

Antinephritic Plants

Plant Oils for Paralysis (for Topical Use)

Antiscorbutic Plants

Pulmonary Plants

Antiedemic Plants

Venereal Plants for Diseases of the Womb and Ovaries

Plants for Resolving Bladder and Kidney Stones

Fortifying, Desiccant, Excitant, and Stimulant Plants

Chapter 4. Methods of Plant Preservation

Fruits

Flowers

Seeds

Roots

Woods

The Vallot Method of Plant Preservation

Chapter 5. The Year-Round Harvest

March (♓–♈)

April (♈–♉)

May (♉–♊)

June (♊–♋)

July (♋–♌)

August (♌–♍)

September (♍–♎)

October (♎–♏)

November (♏–♐)

December (♐–♑)

January (♑–♒)

February (♒–♓)

Ancient Groupings of Plants with Common Properties

Conventional Aphorisms of the Ancients

Determining the Best Times of Year to Harvest Medicinal Plants

Determining Under What Astral Influences to Harvest Medicinal Plants

Determining Under What Astral Influences to Administer Herbal Remedies

Chapter 6. Plant Signatures

Plants Ruled by the Sun (☉)

Plants Ruled by the Moon (☾)

Plants Ruled by Saturn (♄)

Plants Ruled by Jupiter (♃)

Plants Ruled by Mars (♂)

Plants Ruled by Venus (♀)

Plants Ruled by Mercury (☿)

Determining the Times When the Sun and the Signs of the Zodiac Pass through the Four Angles

Chapter 7. Theory of Astral Medicine in Light of the Four Humoral Temperaments

The Nature and Formation of the Four Temperaments

Chapter 8. Physiological and Psychological Analogies of the Four Temperaments

Sanguine

Phlegmatic

Choleric

Melancholic

The Nature of Abnormalities Generating from Excesses of the Four Humors

The Four Mixed Temperaments

The Origins of Nervous Disorders

Nervous Disorders Born of an Excess of Phlegm

Nervous Disorders Born of an Excess of Yellow Bile

Humoral and Organic Corruptions

Chapter 9. The Hermetic Diet

Hermetic Application of the Medicinal Doctrine Contraria contrariis curantur

Very Hot and Dry Foods and Herbs

Hot and Dry Foods

Hot and Wet Foods

Temperate and Wet Vegetables

Temperate and Wet Fruits

Cold and Wet Vegetables

Temperate and Wet Alcoholic Beverages

Hot and Wet Alcoholic Beverages and Liquors

Vegetable Drinks

The Seasonal Diet

The Ideal Dietary Regimen

Hermetic Application of the Medicinal Doctrine Similia similibus curantur

Chapter 10. Planetary Natures and Their Analogies on the Physical and Mental Planes

The Sun (☉)

The Moon (☾)

Saturn (♄)

Jupiter (♃)

Mars (♂)

Venus (♀)

Mercury (☿)

Uranus (♅)

Neptune (♆)

The Influence of the Planets on the Organic Functions of the Human Body

Fundamental Rules for Investigating Maladies in the Natal Chart

Orientation of the Natal Chart

Chapter 11. Mechanical Theory of Astral Vibrations

Measuring Variations in the Natures of the Planets by Their Aspects to the Luminaries

Calculating Variations in the Elemental Natures of the Planets

Determining a Person’s Astral Temperament

Part Two. Elementary Chemistry, Spagyrics, and Secret Operations

Chapter 12. Principles of Premodern Chemistry for Basic Preparations of Medicinal Plants

The Vessels of Premodern Chemistry

Decoction and Infusion

Digestion and Distillation

General Preparation of Leaves: Preparing Lettuces and Plants of Ettmüller’s 1st Class

Distillation of Succulent Herbs, Lettuces, and Plants of Ettmüller’s 1st Class

Distillation of Sorrel and Plants of Ettmüller’s 2nd Class

Distillation of Blessed Thistle and Plants of Ettmüller’s 3rd Class

Distillation of Watercress and Plants of the Ettmüller’s 4th Class

Distillation of Wormwood and Plants of the Ettmüller’s 5th Class

Chapter 13. Plant Juices and Their Uses

Treatment of Seeds

Anise Seed Oil Extracted by Expression

The Cox Method of Plant Preparation

Reduction of Guaiac Wood into Five Different Substances

Preparations of Juniper Berries

Jalap Root Extract

Black Hellebore Root Extract

Angelica Root Extract

Spirit and Oil of Angelica Root

Spirit, Oil, and Balm of Nutmeg

Distillation of Cinnamon Bark

Tincture of Cinnamon

Sublimation of Benzoin Flowers

Preparation of Aloe

Preparation of Opium

Observation on the Distillation of Common Centaury, Wormwood, Rue, Lemon Balm, Mint, Valerian, Linden Flower, and All Plants Whose Nature is Dry and Balsamic

The Medicinal Virtues of Nostoc or Flos coeli

Chapter 14. Le Fèvre’s Chemical Preparations of Plants

Preparation of Succulent Nitrous Plants

Preparation of Succulents Containing a Volatile Essential Salt

Extracting Spirits from Succulents Containing a Volatile Essential Salt

Preparation of Antiscorbutic Water

Preparation of Scurvy Grass

Elecampane Root Extract

Comfrey Root Extract

Satyrion Root Extract

Lady Fern Root Extract

Colocynth Extract

Elixir of Lemon and Orange Peel

The Virtue of Plant Liquors

The Le Fèvre Method of Preparing Plant Liquors

The Primum ens of Plants

The Virtue of the Primum ens

Chapter 15. Introduction to the Spagyric Art

Secret Principles of Spagyric Chemistry

General and Specific Rules of the Spagyric Art

Circulatory Vessels

Differences between Circulation and Digestion

The Seal of Hermes

The Use of Potential and Sulfurous Fires in Cultivation

The Paracelsian Method of Extracting the Quintessence from Plants

The Pseudo-Llullian Method of Extracting the Quintessence from Plants

The Ulstad Method of Extracting the Quintessence from Plants

The Le Fèvre Method of Extracting the Quintessence from Plants

The Time Required for Philosophical Distillation

Spagyric Distillation of Wine

Putrefaction of Wine by Circulation

Circular Distillation of Wine

A Simple Method of Extracting the Quintessence from Wine

Extracting the Quintessence from Wine without Fire

Exalting the Power of a Spirit of Wine

Spirit of Essential Wine of the Adepts

Pseudo-Llull’s Aquae vitae

Aqua vitae for All Infirmities and Early Onset of Old Age

Stomachic and Compensatory Aqua vitae

Purifying, Vivifying, and Comforting Aqua vitae

Fortifying and Soothing Aqua vitae

Equilibrating Aqua vitae

The Most Virtuous Aqua vitae

The Croll Method of Preparing Herb Salts

The Cold Quintessence

Quintessence of the Four Elements

Preparation of Subtle Earth with Aqua vitae

Distillation per descensum

Quintessence of Greater Celandine

Extracting the Quintessence from Fruits

Quintessence of Honey

Quintessence of Aromatic Plants

Paracelsus’s Elixir proprietatis

Tincture of Coral

The Spagyric Art of Extracting Quintessences: A Theoretical and Practical Synthesis

Part Three. Helmontian Medicine and the Preparation of Alkahests and Menstrual Vehicles

Chapter 16. The Spagyric Medicines of Paracelsus and Helmont

Summary of Helmont’s Preparations

Treatment of Alkalis

Chapter 17. The Art of Volatilizing Alkalis

Volatilizing Salt of Tartar: Method 1

Volatilizing Salt of Tartar: Method 2

Volatilizing Salt of Tartar: Method 3

Preparation of the Samech Elixir

Helmont’s Alkahest and Alkahests in General

Quintessence of Salts

Alkahest of Niter

Separation of the Elements from Metals

Philosophical Menstrua

Distillation of Rainwater

Menstrual Acid of Vinegar

Starkey’s Sulfurous Menstruum

Philosophical Menstruum for Extracting the Quintessence from Plants

Alkahests in Practice

Secret Formula for a Universal Circulatum

Afterword

Footnotes

Endnotes

Bibliography

About the Author

About Inner Traditions • Bear & Company

Books of Related Interest

Copyright & Permissions

Index of Common Plant Names

Index of Scientific Plant Names

Index of Authors and Subjects

Abbreviations and Symbols, Tables, and Figures

Abbreviations and Symbols

Angles

Aspects

Elements

Luminaries

Planets

Signs of the Zodiac

Qualities

Tables

1.1. Elemental Correspondences

6.1. Calculations of Sunrise and Sunset Times

9.1. The Pure Elemental Natures of the Seasons

10.1. The Four Elemental Triplicities and the Twelve Houses

10.2. Corporeal and Organic Correspondences with the Zodiacal Signs

10.3. The Zodiacal Houses and the Parts and Organs of the Human Body

12.1. Old Weights and Measures and Their Equivalents

17.1. Metallic Elements and Their Solvents

Figures

10.1. Succession of the Parts and Organs of the Human Body Corresponding to Each House

11.1. Coefficients of the Elemental Nature of the Sun over the Course of the Seasons

11.2. Elemental Qualities of the Moon According to Its Position Relative to the Sun

11.3. Aspects to the Sun

11.4. Aspects to the Moon

11.5. The Vital Cycle: Coefficients of Vitality for the Four Angles and the Twelve Houses of the Natal Chart

11.6. Coefficients of the Elemental Qualities of the Sun (☉) According to Its Position Relative to the Four Seasons and the Four Angles

11.7. Average Coefficients of the Elemental Qualities of the Moon (☾) According to Its Position Relative to the Sun and the Four Angles

11.8. Average Coefficients of the Elemental Qualities of Saturn (♄) According to Its Aspects to the Sun and the Moon

11.9. Average Coefficients of the Elemental Qualities of Jupiter (♃) According to Its Aspects to the Sun and the Moon

11.10. Average Coefficients of the Elemental Qualities of Mars (♂) According to Its Aspects to the Sun and the Moon

11.11. Average Coefficients of the Elemental Qualities of Venus (♀) According to Its Aspects to the Sun and the Moon

11.12. Average Coefficients of the Elemental Qualities of Mercury (☿) According to Its Aspects to the Sun and the Moon

Translator’s Foreword

Little is known about the life of Jean Mavéric except that he was a prominent figure in occult and alchemical circles in Paris in the early twentieth century. He was affiliated with Papus’s École hermétique (formerly the Groupe indépendant d’ études ésotériques), which offered courses on a wide range of esoteric subjects. Advertisements for the École hermétique identify him as a professor of Hermetic philosophy and practical astrology. He was also an active member of the Société alchimique de France, a group of occultists devoted to the study and revival of alchemy, founded by François Jollivet-Castelot (1874–1937), to whom Mavéric dedicated his book on ancient alchemy.¹

Mavéric authored at least ten books between the years 1910 and 1913. According to occult bibliographer Albert Louis Caillet (1869–1928), the name Jean Mavéric is a partial anagram of the author’s real name, Maurice Petitjean.² What is certain is that Jean Mavéric also published under the pseudonyms Jean Petit and Jean Bélus. Jean Petit’s The Key to the Diurnal Horoscope, originally published circa 1913, was subsequently reprinted under the name Jean Mavéric,³ and the same is true of the two titles originally published under the pseudonym Jean Bélus in 1911.⁴ Bélus or Belus, by the way, is the Latinate form of the Grecized name Βῆλος, the euhemerized king who established the order of astrologer-priests known as Chaldeans.⁵*1

Mavéric’s use of the pseudonym Jean Petit, a complete and more readily discernable anagram of the author’s reputed surname, corroborates Caillet’s assertion, but the extensive catalog of esoteric literature compiled by the Parisian bookseller Dorbon-aîné, who published Mavéric’s Hermetic Herbalism in 1911, makes no mention of the author’s first name. Instead, the catalog identifies Jean Mavéric only as the pseudonym of Petitjean.⁶ It is to be noted, however, that the anagrammatic method of devising a pseudonym to which Caillet alludes was especially popular among esotericists in fin-de-siècle France. To cite just one example, Albert Faucheux (1838–1921), the head of the French chapter of the Hermetic Brotherhood of Luxor, created his pseudonym François-Charles Barlet (who is one of the dedicatees of this book) by scrambling the letters of his first name Albert and making this anagram the last name of his pen name F.-C. Barlet. In the exact same manner, Petitjean scrambled the letters of his first name, Maurice, and made this anagram the last name of his preferred nom de plume Jean Mavéric, the letters U and V being interchangeable not only in Latin but also in early French. This would seem to lend further credence to Caillet’s identification. In fact, the only reasonable conclusion one may draw is that Albert Caillet, a Hermeticist in his own right, who wrote the preface to André Durville’s French translation of The Kybalion, must have known Petitjean personally.⁷

On the basis of Mavéric’s scathing critique of the medical field of his day in the preface to Hermetic Herbalism, it is also reasonable to assume that he himself was a medical practitioner. His researches into the esoteric sciences may well have been prompted by medical colleagues such as Dr. J.-P. Vergnes (the other dedicatee of this book), a practicing homeopathist and a prolific author who published dozens of articles on occult therapeutics, including the serial Spagyric Medicine, which he co-authored with Mavéric.⁸ There was a Dr. Maurice Petitjean, a former Paris hospital intern (ancien externe des hôpitaux de Paris) whose medical thesis On Inguinal Strangulated Hernia in Infants during the First Two Years of Life was published in 1899 by Vigot frères,⁹ the same Parisian publisher who published Jean Mavéric’s treatise on astrological medicine some ten years later.¹⁰ Whether this Dr. Maurice Petitjean and the Maurice Petitjean behind the pseudonym Jean Mavéric are the same person remains unclear. In any case the Maurice Petitjean behind the pseudonym Jean Mavéric must surely have been the instructor Petitjean listed among the associate professors and lecturers of the École supérieure libre des sciences médicales appliquées, an outgrowth of Papus’s École hermétique. According to school advertisements Petitjean co-taught the lecture series Hermetic Medicine with Dr. Gérard Encausse (alias Papus), Mr. Paul Schmidt (the pseudonym of Edmond Dace), and Dr. M. Druz, author of A Practical Treatise of Astral Medicine and Therapeutics,¹¹ but whereas the advertisements identify many of the medical school’s faculty members, Papus included, by their real names and by professional titles such as docteur en médecine and ancien externe des hôpitaux, Professor Petitjean is rather bizarrely described as hommes de lettres, that is, men of letters, scholars, or simply writers. If the plural hommes is not a typographical error, it is likely a clever nod to Petitjean’s multiple literary pseudonyms.

At any rate, knowing the enigmatic author’s true identity does not make him any less elusive. To the contrary, it succeeds only in making him all the more mysterious. Mavéric may justly be described as the Fulcanelli of modern herbalism, and Hermetic Herbalism is widely regarded as his masterpiece. The influential occultist François Jollivet-Castelot, himself an expert in spagyric medicine, reviewed Mavéric’s magnum opus in especially glowing terms:

This learned work of great importance examines the spagyric treatment of plants point by point. . . . No doubt it will be read with keen interest due to the sore lack of modern studies on the subject. Mavéric is extremely well versed in astrological and alchemical matters. Simply put, no other living author could have written such a superb and authoritative disquisition on the Hermetic art of herbal medicine.¹²

The publication of Hermetic Herbalism, as Jollivet-Castelot intimates, was groundbreaking in its day.¹³ The only contemporary studies of the kind available in French during the early twentieth century were a few scattered chapters in Papus’s heavy tomes and Paul Sédir’s Magical Plants: A Concise Guide to Occult Botany.¹⁴ But whereas Papus and Sédir were concerned primarily with bridging the widening gap between modern botanical studies and the esoteric sciences, Mavéric was concerned with restoring the ancient and often forgotten Hermetic foundations of the science of herbal medicine.

From Mavéric’s point of view, the vast majority of modern-day books about herbal alchemy or spagyric medicine are largely, if not entirely, concerned with basic chemistry. This, of course, is not to say that the herbal preparations provided in such books are worthless or ineffectual, only that they are neither Hermetic nor spagyric. For Mavéric the art of extracting herbal essences is not by default spagyric. He defines spagyrics as a series of chemical operations that proceed by analogy from Hermetic principles and universal laws. One of the major distinguishing factors of spagyric operations is time, and this extends not only to the protracted duration of the chemical procedures but also to the timing of the planting and harvesting of the vegetal matter. Mavéric states in no uncertain terms that herbal essences extracted by spagyric operations are infinitely more potent and effective than herbal essences extracted by normal chemical procedures. Thus, to distinguish the spagyric essence from the ordinary or aspagyric, Mavéric consistently utilizes the term quintessence, in accordance with the writings of the old spagyrists and alchemists.

A few words are necessary here on some of the editorial changes made in this translation. French esotericists in the early twentieth century were notoriously negligent when it came to properly citing their sources, and Jean Mavéric is no exception. Mavéric makes use of a great number of sources from the fifteenth through the nineteenth centuries, but he cites virtually none of them. I have made every effort to track down all of his Latin and French sources and to cite them accordingly in the annotations (along with any existing English translations of these sources).

Furthermore, due to the nature and extent of Mavéric’s sources, there is little consistency in the original French publication with respect to plant names. Mavéric frequently employs a variety of different French common names and partial scientific names to refer to the same plant genera or species. For example, bear’s-breech (Acanthus mollis L.) appears as both blanche-ursine (white-ursine) and acanthe, from the Latin plant name acanthus, which derives from the Greek ἄκανθα (thorn or spine), dandelion (Taraxacum officinale L.) appears as both dent-de-lion (lion’s tooth) and pissenlit (piss-the-bed), the latter being a colorful description of the plant’s well-known diuretic properties, and turmeric (Cucurma longa L.) appears as both safran oriental (oriental saffron) and cucurma, which derives from the Sanskrit kuṅkumam, the name of the turmeric-based powder most often applied to the sixth or third eye chakra. I have simplified the matter by utilizing one English common name per genus or species.

In addition, since I suspect some readers may require a more precise taxonomy, I have compiled two plant indices for the 618 plants Mavéric mentions. Each index includes the common names used throughout this translation and their modern scientific equivalents. I have structured the plant indices in such a manner that if readers know a particular plant by a different common name than the one used in this translation, they may look up its scientific name online or in a botanical dictionary and then find it in the Index of Scientific Plant Names, where they will find in parentheses the one equivalent English common name used consistently throughout this book. I have also alphabetized all of the plant lists in chapters 2, 3, 5, and 6 so that readers may use the plant indices with greater facility.

Mavéric describes Hermetic Herbalism as a thoroughgoing, expanded, and considerably improved revision of his earlier Synthetic Essay on Astrological and Spagyric Medicine. But even so, in a few places he glosses over materials and simply refers readers to this earlier work. Since Mavéric’s Synthetic Essay remains untranslated, I have filled in these few lacunae for the sake of readers who do not know French. For example, Mavéric’s groupings of foods and drinks according to their elemental qualities in chapter 9 now contain all of the ingredients originally listed in his Synthetic Essay together with each of the supplements and updates provided in Hermetic Herbalism. Lastly, I have arranged Mavéric’s original section divisions into chapters and reordered some of the headers, particularly in chapters 9 and 15, for the sake of greater continuity and fluidity.

One final word. Mavéric admits in the afterword that he gives short shrift to some of the physical and practical aspects of spagyrics. For readers who wish to pursue these matters further, Manfred M. Junius’s Spagyrics: The Alchemical Preparation of Medicinal Essences, Tinctures, and Elixirs (3rd ed., Rochester, Vt: Inner Traditions, 2007) is an excellent place to start.

☉ IN ♉, ☾ IN ♓,

A LARGE AND DENSELY WOODED ISLAND,

R. BAILEY

R. BAILEY received a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Religion in 2017. His research interests include ancient, medieval, and modern traditions of herbalism, magic, Hermeticism, and Gnosticism. He is currently working on translations of Paul Sédir’s Les plantes magiques and the Latin Herbarium of Pseudo-Apuleius.

Author’s Preface

Ancient medicine had several loosely connected factions. The Galenic doctrine gathered the greatest number of partisans, but among them there were many injudicious physicians whose knowledge consisted in amassing large quantities of absurd receptes and formulae lacking any scientific foundation. In short, a multitude of ignorant, deceitful, pretentious, and shrewd doctors came to shelter themselves under the umbrella of Galenism. The latter reigned supreme, occupied the highest offices, and published countless works in which they ostentatiously displayed the culpable error of their inane teachings. The unprecedented manner in which such mortal physicians treated King Louis XIII proves that they had access to some of the most powerful figures in history and that their patients were mere dupes.*2 However, while these potentates of ignorance shone in society, here and there a few modest scientists continued to work diligently in the shadows. Despising success and devoted to science, these humble seekers succeeded in reconstructing the founding principles of the venerable doctrine revealed by Hermes Trismegistus.

Hermetic doctrine encompasses the knowledge of the origins of creation, and therefore of first and second causes and their analogies. It was this doctrine that gave birth to the